MARK Bonner and Richard Langley linked up in a new central midfield partnership for Cardiff City at Milton Keynes.

At first glance it looked an odd pairing, Langley having spent all his time at City playing out wide, but they showed all the signs of being able to bring out the best in each other and form a flourishing partnership.

Bonner's run of first team matches - 11 starts and one substitute appearance in the last 12 Nationwide League outings - is bringing out the best in a midfield player who has always battled for his place when lesser players might have buckled under the pressure.

He was outstanding against the Dons, winning headers he had no right to get to, breaking up Wimbledon attacks with beautifully timed challenges, breaking forward with surging runs and showing a capability of opening up the home side with pinpoint passing.

Bonner, for me, was man of the match against Wimbledon with Langley a close challenger.

He moved inside from the wing to the central position he fills for Jamaica and brought a whole new dimension to the position.

Langley produced one of his best performances for City, looking a quality player as the Bluebirds dominated the first half and then battled through the second.

He stepped in at Wimbledon for skipper Graham Kavanagh, who has been in the form of his life for City.

Kav is a patient midfield player who holds, waits for his moment and is capable of producing incisive passing.

The Irishman is also a master of set-piece play, taking most of the corners and able to strike fiercely from free-kicks.

Langley, in contrast, tries to force the play. He loves to be in possession, running at his opposite number.

He was over elaborate at times and made mistakes, but he was willing to take chances at the right time and, with Bonner supporting his every charge, looked a good player in that central role.

Langley had to add an aggressive edge to his game when Wimbledon were in possession and he did that to good effect.

The question for manager Lennie Lawrence is whether to stick with Bonner and Langley against West Bromwich Albion tomorrow evening.

It's one thing to shine individually and as a pairing against bottom club Wimbledon, short on confidence and experience, and quite another to do the same job against Albion, the First Division leaders and hot favourites for promotion.

There is no doubt for me the answer has to be yes with the impressive Julian Gray and John Robinson continuing either side of them.

Gray, a young man rightly confident in his own ability, is growing in stature and looking the part as a City first team regular, while Lawrence won't leave Robbo out if he is fit.

That could yet be a doubt after Robinson, suffering from the after-effects of flu and a slight calf strain, went off after an hour against Wimbledon with Willie Boland taking over.

But if everybody is fit, Lawrence will surely say 'same again' across the midfield.

City will certainly need even more quality, more creation against West Brom and the almost equally impressive Ipswich Town on Saturday, but with Kavanagh still out injured they are the best combination.

After 18 First Division matches, City have a respectable 30 points and goalkeeper Neil Alexander has kept eight clean sheets - exactly the same amount as he achieved last season.

There were only a few moments at Wimbledon's new home, the National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes, when the Dons looked capable of altering that situation.

Tony Vidmar, who took over the captaincy from the absent Kavanagh, was a man of the match contender, while Danny Gabbidon returned from the heartbreak of Wales' Euro 2004 play-off defeat with a quality performance.

His Welsh teammate, Robert Earnshaw, worked hard with little success on a day when there were few chances.

City dominated the first half, took the lead through Gary Croft after 15 minutes and should have scored more.

They looked too good for a youthful, enthusiastic Wimbledon team who are battling against relegation.

The home side stepped up the tempo after the interval and forced City back, but still rarely looked likely to score despite the lively, impressive form of Nigel Reo-Coker, who looks a player with real Premiership potential, and Patrick Aygemang.

Both are products of the Wimbledon youth development system started by Sam Hammam when he owned the club, along with Rob Gier, Wade Small and others.

There is no doubt City were well worth the win or that they should have won by a wider margin.

They were cheered on by more than 1,700 Bluebirds fans who sang their way through a match played in steady rain on a bitterly cold day.

They wore plastic macs handed out by Wimbledon - and defied the conditions in their section which was completely open to the elements.

Those who travelled to Russia to support Wales were adamant that Milton Keynes is a colder, more dismal place than Moscow!

After extending their unbeaten Nationwide League run to seven matches, City now face the big test of their play-off and promotion credentials.

Can they overcome West Brom, who somehow lost to Wimbledon this season, and Joe Royle's Ipswich Town in successive home matches?

Next Saturday evening, at around 5pm, we'll know a lot more about City's ability to maintain their challenge.